Sir Peter Parker, 2nd Baronet

Sir Peter Parker, 2nd Baronet (1785-31 August 1814) was a Royal Navy captain who was the commander of the 38-gun Fifth Rate HMS Menelaus during the Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. He was killed at the Battle of Caulk's Field in 1814.

Biography
Peter Parker was born in 1785, the grandson of Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet, who had fought at the Battle of Sullivan's Island during the American Revolutionary War. The younger Peter Parker entered the Royal Navy in 1798 and served under Admiral Horatio Nelson, and he commanded HMS Weazel, the first British vessel to spot the fleet of France and Spain leaving Cadiz in 1805. Following the ensuing Battle of Trafalgar, Parker was promoted to captain. From 3 March 1810 until 1 July 1811 he was briefly a member of Parliament for the Wexford Borough of Ireland under the Tory Party. He was given command of HMS Menelaus, and in December 1810 he took part in the capture of Mauritius from the French Empire. The Menelaus later took part in the blockade of Toulon in southern France and fought against privateers and other ships, but in 1813 he was sent to take part in the War of 1812 against the United States. Parker raided the Maryland coastline and also fought French Navy ships in the Atlantic Ocean, recapturing a valuable Spanish merchant ship in January 1814.

Parker's last command was taking part in the blockade of Baltimore under Admiral George Cockburn, and he destroyed farms and property along the Chesapeake Bay. On 30 August 1814 he attempted a night attack on some American militia forces at present-day Fairlee, Maryland, but in the ensuing Battle of Caulk's Field he was hit in the thigh, just as his grandfather had been wounded at Sullivan's Island. The bullet severed an artery, and he died on the field.